Fleeing robber killed, 2 nabbed after loot in bank
Panipat, July 4
The police today succeeded in solving a case of daylight robbery in the Union Bank of India
within two hours of the incident. Four armed robbers struck at a branch of the UBI at Nimberi village at 11 am and looted Rs 52,000 at gunpoint after locking staff and customers in a room of the bank.

Man chooses money over mother, leaves her unconscious
Sonepat, July 4
Quite a stir was caused when an aged woman was found unconscious on the roadside near Murthal village, about 8 km from here, today.
According to a report, she was immediately hospitalised in a private hospital by some villagers.

Farmer finds ‘ancient’ weapons in field
Yamunanagar, July 4
A farmer of Shahpur village in Bilaspur block has found swords, arrows and other weapons, appearing to be “ancient”, while planting paddy in his field. The village is situated 8 km from the historical Kapal Mochan gurdwara.

Cong trying to divide Sikhs, says SGPC chief
Karnal, July 4
Bibi Jagir Kaur, President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee, has called upon the Sikhs of Haryana to unite together against the “ill-designs” of the Congress, which is “trying to divide the community” for its vested political interests.

Haryana to set up six special economic zonesPanchkula, July 4
The Haryana Government proposes to set up six special economic zones in the state. Four of these SEZs will come up in the National Capital Region, while two of them will come up outside the NCR.

Dental college gets approval for fresh admissions
Gurgaon, July 4
The Union Health Ministry, the Dental Council of India and Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, have given approval to Shri Govind Tricentenary Dental College, Hospital and Research Institute, located in Budhera village,
near here, for admissions to the first year of Bachelor of Dental Surgery
degree course.

Teachers’ selection scam: Dalal cleared
Chandigarh, July 4
The CBI has cleared the name of the Congress MLA from, Palwal, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, from the list of accused persons in the JBT teachers recruitment scam.

Thana (Kurukshetra), July 4
Historians working on various research projects related to the Indus-Saraswati civilisation in the land of Mahabharata now have to rethink their theories of research with an archaeologist of the Haryana Archaeological Department claiming to have discoverd the actual site of Brahmasar Sarovar.

The new site of the Brahmasar Sarovar discovered at Thana village, 50 km from Kurukshetra.
— Photo by writer

Order on scrapping cops’
appointments challenged
Chandigarh, July 4
In less than a month after Haryana’s Director-General of Police ordered the scrapping of appointments made against 819 vacancies by the previous regime, 13 affected constables today moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the order.

PFA activist gets anticipatory bail
Jhajjar, July 4
The president of the Haryana chapter of the People for Animals, an NGO, Mr Naresh Kadian, was granted the anticipatory bail by the Additional District and Sessions Court, here, today.

22 children hurt as schoolbus overturns
Hisar, July 4
Twentytwo children were injured when their schoolbus overturned near Gangwa village in the district today. The injured schoolchildren were rushed to nearby hospitals by the local residents.

Admin forgets martyr
Rohtak, July 4
While the town today remembered Lieut Kuldeep Rathi who made the supreme sacrifice for the motherland this day four years ago, the district administration failed to register its presence at a solemn ceremony held at Mansarovar Park here today.

Residents raise anti-govt slogans
Bhiwani, July 4
Demanding improvement in sewerage and the drinking water supply, residents of Ghosiyan Chaupta expressed their anguish over the apathetic attitude of the administration by blocking the road today.

Another administrative
reshuffle on cards
Gurgaon, July 4
With the new Chief Secretary and the DGP, Haryana, in place, the state government is said to be contemplating another administrative reshuffle in the civil and the police departments. Also, the government plans to fill up the posts of chairmen of various boards and corporations, any time this month.

State gazetteer released
Chandigarh, July 4
The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, today released the Haryana State Gazetteer (Volume-II).
The volume deals with the agriculture and irrigation sectors and has been brought out by the Revenue Department.

Remand of rice miller extended
Fatehabad, July 4
The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Parveen Kumar, today remanded a local miller in a day’s police custody for committing a fraud with the government by selling off levy rice entrusted to him.

Tributes paid to Nanda
Kurukshetra, July 4
The birth anniversary of a former Prime Minister and founder chairman of the Kurukshetra Development Board, the late Gulzari Lal Nanda, was celebrated as “Sadachar Divas” in the state.

Panipat, July 4
The police today succeeded in solving a case of daylight robbery in the Union Bank of India (UBI) within two hours of the incident.

Four armed robbers struck at a branch of the UBI at Nimberi village at 11 am and looted Rs 52,000 at gunpoint after locking staff and customers in a room of the bank. Eyewitnesses said the robbers had come on two unnumbered motor cycles.

On getting information, the police laid special nakas in different parts of the district especially on exit points.

Panipat SP Anil Kumar told mediapersons that the Samalkha police had noticed two unnumbered motor cycles and signalled them to stop but instead of stopping, they sped up and fired at the police personnel.

At this, the police also retaliated and chased them successfully. Two robbers, Dinesh and Deepak, were arrested and the police recovered two pistols from their possession.

However, two robbers went towards Bhodwal Majri village who were being chased by another police party. The robbers entered the fields where one of them, Ravindra Kumar, was killed in exchange of fires while another succeeded in fleeing. The police recovered the robbed amount and two pistols from the slain robber.

After preliminary interrogation of the two nabbed robbers, the fleeing robber has been identified as Sunil of Chirsami village falling under Gannaur subdivision of Sonepat district.

Senior police and administrative officers of both Panipat and Sonepat districts, including the DCs, Mr Mehtab Singh, Mr B.S. Malik, and the SPs, Mr Anil Kumar and Mr Sukhdev Singh, reached the site of the encounter.

Yamunanagar, July 4
A farmer of Shahpur village in Bilaspur block has found swords, arrows and other weapons, appearing to be “ancient”, while planting paddy in his field. The village is situated 8 km from the historical Kapal Mochan gurdwara.

Mr Jaswant Singh, who was tilling his field yesterday, found three heavy and one sleek sword, two 1.25 mts long arrows and another one metre-long weapon from a four-foot deep pit. The weapons were rusted.

Mr Jaswant Singh said the tiller got struck in the ground and got damaged. Later, while planting paddy, a woman labourer felt same solid object (at the spot where the tiller was damaged) under her feet. She reported the matter to Mr Jaswant Singh. The ground was dug and weapons were found lying in the pit.

To avoid any trouble, Mr Jaswant Singh planted paddy on the land. However, the news of weapons had spread. The sarpanch, Mr Suchha Singh, reported the matter to the police.

People refused to hand over weapons and decided to store the same in a village gurdwara.

No one from the Archaeology Department or administration had inspected the weapons till the reports last came in. The family of Mr Jaswant Singh owns the land for the past 35 years. Before partition, the village was inhabitated by Muslims but today 30 per cent of the residents are Sikhs.

People believe that the weapons were historical as the village is situated near Kapal Mochan gurdwara, where Guru Gobind Singh had stayed after the Badani battle.

Karnal, July 4
Bibi Jagir Kaur, President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC), has called upon the Sikhs of Haryana to unite together against the “ill-designs” of the Congress, which is “trying to divide the community” for its vested political interests. She was addressing a gathering of the community at Gurdwara Ram Nagar in Karnal today.

She appealed to the misguided Sikh leaders in the state to come back into the mainstream and join hands in strengthening the socio-political power of the community in the state. She said the community had already suffered a lot during the time of militancy due to rifts created by the Congress.

Without naming the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, she said politicians trying to divide Sikhs could not survive for long in politics. She warned that if Mr Hooda tried to bring in a legislation in the state Assembly regarding a separate gurdwara committee, Sikhs in the entire nation would launch a morcha against the Congress with the support of like-minded parties.

Bibi Jagir Kaur announced a grant of Rs 2 lakh for upgrading and renovating the gurdwara building and promised all possible economic help for the community school being run by the management of the gurdwara.

Panchkula, July 4
The Haryana Government proposes to set up six special economic zones (SEZs) in the state. Four of these SEZs will come up in the National Capital Region (NCR), while two of them will come up outside the NCR. The two Industrial Model Township (IMT) being developed will have SEZs, while SEZ status will also be sought for the IT Park coming up here.

Senior officials in the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) inform that a separate Act/ policy on setting up these SEZ’s will be formulated soon, to facilitate public and private sector investment exclusively, or in partnership. The proposed SEZs in the NCR will include a Gems and Jewellery Park Complex being set up at Udyog Vihar, Gurgaon, and an Apparel Park at Barhi in Sonepat. Besides these, the Central Government had agreed in principle for the SEZ to be set up at Garhi Harsru, New Gurgaon, last month.

Mr P.K. Chaudhery, Commissioner and Secretary, Industries, says that the state government will also encourage the setting up of other SEZs along the Kundli-Manesar- Palwal Expressway being developed by the HSIDC.

The two new industrial townships to be set up in the state will draw upon the experience of IMT Manesar, which was developed by HSIDC earlier. One of these will initially be developed in an area of 7000 acres. This township will include special campuses for large industries, industrial parks, industrial plots, flatted factories, residential colonies, labour housing, commercial and institutional areas, entertainment zones, besides Container Freight Station, educational and healthcare facilities. Both the industrial townships will have a SEZ. Mr Chaudhery says that a few
prospective sites have been shortlisted for the townships and the proposal
will be finalised within this year.

Other than this, the government proposes to seek the status of SEZ for Gems and Jewellery Park. Officials say that discussions are on with the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council for establishing this park.

The government is developing two apparel parks - one at Gurgaon and the other at Barhi in Sonepat. The SEZ status (industry specific) will be sought for the one being developed at Sonepat, inform officials.

Gurgaon, July 4
The Union Health Ministry, the Dental Council of India (DCI) and Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, have given approval to Shri Govind Tricentenary Dental College, Hospital and Research Institute, located in Budhera village, near here, for admissions to the first year of Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) degree course.

The institute, spread over a campus of more than 17 acres, was set up in 2002. According to the rule, the institute will have to seek approval for fresh admissions each year from the authorities concerned till the time the first batch passes the degree course.

Chandigarh, July 4
The CBI has cleared the name of the Congress MLA from, Palwal, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, from the list of accused persons in the JBT teachers recruitment scam.

The CBI, which is investigating the scam on the orders of the Supreme Court, had raided the houses of Mr Dalal in Palwal and Chandigarh on April 7 last along with certain other places, including the houses belonging to the family of the former Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala.

Talking to newsmen here today Mr Dalal released copies of a letter written by Mr
K.C. Joshi, SP, CBI, Delhi, to the Secretary of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, who had earlier requested the CBI to furnish the status of the case, if any, against Mr Dalal.

Mr Joshi informed the Vidhan Sabha that Mr Dalal “is a witness in this case”. He said some cash and “incriminating” documents were seized from the houses of Mr Dalal. He said Rs 12,00,510 was returned to Mr Dalal under the orders of the court.

Mr Joshi wrote that Mr Dalal’s statement was recorded by the CBI as a witness. “As such, Mr Dalal is a witness in this case,” the CBI officer informed the Vidhan Sabha.

Sonepat, July 4
Wheat worth several lakhs of rupees, lying at various foodgrain markets of the district, has got damaged due to the heavy rains.

According to a report, wheat procured by the state and Central government agencies was to be lifted and sent to godowns and plinths hired for the purpose but the authorities were caught unaware by the rains.

As a result thousands of wheat bags have got damaged due to the official apathy and failure to cover the stock with polythene or tarpaulin sheets.

At the new grain market of the city, a huge stock of procured wheat has been lying in the open for the past few months because of non-lifting by the agencies.

Some of these agencies had hired private open plinth for stocking wheat as covered godowns were already filled with the last year’s stock.

Representatives of various political parties have expressed concern over the non-lifting of wheat stock from the markets by procurement agencies.

Chandigarh, July 4
Iran has expressed interest in setting up joint ventures with the Haryana Government in the petro-chemical industry.

The Ambassador of Iran, Mr Siyavash Zargar Yaghoubi, who called on the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, here today, said an Iranian delegation would visit Haryana and explore the possibilities for setting up petro-chemical projects.

Mr Yaghoubi evinced interest in tractors and equipment of irrigation pumps being manufactured in the state.

The Chief Minister said the state had formulated a comprehensive plan for rapid development, including the construction of an expressway and the setting up of special economic zones and a dry port.

Thana (Kurukshetra), July 4
Historians working on various research projects related to the Indus-Saraswati civilisation in the land of Mahabharata now have to rethink their theories of research with an archaeologist of the Haryana Archaeological Department claiming to have discoverd the actual site of Brahmasar Sarovar. Accepting his theory of research, the district administration of Kurukshetra had recently begun excavation on the site at a rapid pace.

The new site of the sarovar has been discovered by Dr Chander Pal Singh Tanwar at Thana village situated on Pehowa-Kaithal road, about 50 km from here. The village is situated on a huge sandy mound of about 20 mt in height. It may be mentioned that at present the sarovar is located in Kurukshetra.

The newly discovered site boasts of remains of a huge sarovar. Mr Ram Rattan Kataria, president, Bhagwat Gita Prachar Sabha, of the village, said the remains of this sarovar were spread over an area of 115 acres as mentioned in the old revenue records of the village.

On the eastern side of this sarovar, bathing ghats can be seen in ruins made of medieval age ‘lakhauri’ bricks. There are separate ghats for both men and women. Close to the ghats is a medieval-age temple having residential rooms for priests also. There are a few old trees, including ‘vatt’ trees, in the vicinity of this area.

Talking to The Tribune Dr Tanwar said the bricks found here dated back to the Kushana period and the subsequent Rajput period. Interestingly, the bricks found here were the largest bricks ever discovered during any archaeological excavations in the country, claimed the archaeologist. The different sizes of bricks discovered were 70x47x10, 32x21x10 cm and 28x22x7 cm. The big size of the bricks indicate that these ghats might have resembled the huge ghats of Kashi, he said.

From the western side of the sarovar, few utensils had also been discovered. The incurved rim bowls and stamped pot-sherds discovered signified the Kushana period of the first century A.D. The remains of the Indus valley civilisation could also be lurking beneath the village keeping in view the location of the village on a huge mound, said Dr Tanwar.

Dr Tanwar further claimed that the history of Thana village was also mentioned in a few old scripts of the puranas and Bodh granths. On page No. 216 of the Mahabagh, a Bodh granth, there was a mention of Thuna village which with the passage of time acquired the name of Thana.

Similarly, in the old script of the Vaman Purana, the location of the Brahma Sarovar, had been clearly mentioned which pointed to this newly discovered site. As mentioned in sloka no. 22/52 of this old script, the sarovar was situated between Vishveshwar and Asthipur and Vridhakanya on the Oghwati river, he added.

The archaeologist said Vishveshwar village was at present known as Barot and was situated about 5 km from Thana village. The Oghwati river was situated 3 km north-east of Thana and flowed even these days during the monsoons, he said. Vridhakanya village was known as Balwanti where a ‘kanya tirtha’ was situated. It was situated 2 km in the south-western region of Thana.

Chandigarh, July 4
In less than a month after Haryana’s Director-General of Police ordered the scrapping of appointments made against 819 vacancies by the previous regime, 13 affected constables today moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the order.

Constable Sanjiv Kumar and 12 others stated that the same was ordered due to political reasons. They added that their appointment did not amount to a violation of the Model Code of Conduct and they were being victimised.

Going into the background of the matter, the petitioners submitted that the recruitment process was carried out on September 19 last year. But the same was ordered to be scrapped on the ground of being in violation of the code.

Taking up the petition, a Division Bench of the high court issued notice of motion to the state of Haryana and other respondents. The case will now come up before the court on October 3.

Hisar, July 4
Twentytwo children were injured when their schoolbus overturned near Gangwa village in the district today. The injured schoolchildren were rushed to nearby hospitals by the local residents.

While 12 students have been admitted in different hospitals, 10 were discharged after administering first-aid. The condition of one of the children, Nisha, is stated to be critical.

The bus of a private school located in Gangwa was going to drop around 35 students in different villages nearby this afternoon. According to eyewitnesses, a car suddenly came in front of the bus.

While trying to save the bus from hitting the car, the driver lost control over it and the bus overturned. The bus driver fled the scene after the incident. The police has impounded the bus.

Rohtak, July 4
While the town today remembered Lieut Kuldeep Rathi who made the supreme sacrifice for the motherland this day four years ago, the district administration failed to register its presence at a solemn ceremony held at Mansarovar Park here today.

Lieutenant Rathi of 11 Sikh LI was commissioned in the Army in December, 2000. He was posted in the Kupwara sector where he was killed in an encounter with Kashmiri militants on July 4, 2001. After his martyrdom, a bust of Lieutenant Rathi was installed in the park where various organisations and his family members hold a solemn ceremony every year on his death anniversary.

The martyr’s mother garlanded the statue of her son after which a havan was performed in the presence of representatives of local social organisations and a large number of ex-servicemen belonging to this district who laid wreaths on behalf of their respective organisations.

However, the district administration failed to send an official to represent the government.

Bhiwani, July 4
Demanding improvement in sewerage and the drinking water supply, residents of Ghosiyan Chaupta expressed their anguish over the apathetic attitude of the administration by blocking the road today. During the three-hour blockade, the residents raised anti-government slogans.

Later the SDO of the Public Health, and the Station House Officer met the agitators and assured them of better services. The officials called upon the safai karamcharis of the Municipal Council and issued the necessary instructions.

Mr Radhey Shyam, Mr Vijender Bansal, Mr Baljeet, Mr Pradeep Alampuria and Mr Rajesh Garg, who were leading the agitators, said the area was badly effected by sewerage, water supply and cleanliness problems for the past several months.

Gurgaon, July 4
With the new Chief Secretary and the DGP, Haryana, in place, the state government is said to be contemplating another administrative reshuffle in the civil and the police departments. Also, the government plans to fill up the posts of chairmen of various boards and corporations, any time this month. The government is said to have cleared the decks for assigning one SSP each for cities like Gurgaon and Faridabad.

The volume deals with the agriculture and irrigation sectors and has been brought out by the Revenue Department. The departments covered in the gazetteer are, agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, fisheries and irrigation.

Fatehabad, July 4
The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Parveen Kumar, today remanded a local miller in a day’s police custody for committing a fraud with the government by selling off levy rice entrusted to him. The accused, Subhash Chander of the local Sharda Food Products, was arrested on Saturday for duping the Food and Supplies Department to the tune of Rs 32 lakh by selling off levy rice produced from paddy allotted to him for milling.

Subhash Chander had sold off 5,000 quintals of rice belonging to the government in the 2001-02 milling season. The Deputy Food and Supplies Controller, Fatehabad, had lodged an FIR against the accused on April 4, 2002. The accused applied for anticipatory bail before a local court, but the court rejected his plea.

Kurukshetra, July 4
The birth anniversary of a former Prime Minister and founder chairman of the Kurukshetra Development Board, the late Gulzari Lal Nanda, was celebrated as “Sadachar Divas” in the state.

A function was held at Kurukshetra today in memory of Nanda who lived a simple and honest life and served the nation in a humble way as Prime Minister.

Paying tributes to the Gandhian, the Deputy Commissioner of Kurukshetra, Mr T.K. Sharma, urged the people to entrust material relating to the life and works of Nanda to the office of the Kurukshetra Development Board so that it could be displayed in the newly constructed museum at Kurukshetra.

Mr S.K. Sharma, secretary, Gulzari Lal Nanda Foundation, said Nanda devoted most of his precious time in developing Kurukshetra.

Earlier, children offered flowers at the samadhi of Nanda. Puja was also performed, besides a painting competition by school children in memory of Nanda.